Tea of the Week: Sencha Decaf

Congrats to the P. Steele Family who won last weeks Organic Texas Iced Tea Blend. This tea went out the door fast and I have more coming, guess I should add new teas more often! This weeks TOW is Japanese Sencha Decaf, a great staple to have around. More about this tea. It's great to have on hand for people that are sensitive to caffeine and I like it for my grandson, he can drink as much as he wants and isn't bouncing off the walls! Remember NOT to boil your water for any green tea.

A beautiful picture of a tea field with Mt. Fuji in the background. Sencha is a Japanese green tea, specifically one made without grinding the tea leaves. Unground tea was brought from China after Matcha (a powdered green tea). Some varieties expand when steeped to resemble leaf vegetable greens in smell, appearance, and taste. More than seventy five percent of all tea grown in Japan is made into Sencha. Developed in 1738 by merchant and tea-maker Soen Nagatani, Sencha was made by steaming then hand-rolling and drying the leaf on a large, flat, heated pan. During the Meiji period (1868 to 1912), much of the extremely labor-intensive tea-making process was mechanized. However, each step of the mechanized process mimics the traditional handcrafted method and takes the same amount of time from start to finish. Handcrafted Sencha is now extremely rare and found only among competition grade teas. History of Japanese Tea from Wikipedia is an excellent read to learn more. Sencha is very popular in Japan, and is drunk hot in the cooler months and usually chilled in the summer months.

This is what I see sitting on the deck in the evening. The humming birds are always a source of amusement. I think the older I get the more the little things in life amuse me. Sitting with my knitting, listening to the neighborhood kids play, watching the birds, and of course my dogs antics. Less than 3 weeks before school starts, time to start my lists and start shopping this week. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!